AfriGeneas States Research Forum

This photo can be found in various places on the internet and listed as several different incidents. I noticed some things in the photo which may make this unlikely to be the Zack Walker lynching. First - it took place in August - and a number of the people in the photo are wearing coats. Secondly - it looks as though the victim is being burned on railroad ties and some type of wooden door or slab. Walker was burned in hay & fenceposts and chained to a bed. (Possibly these could be fence posts - although more likely railroad ties, as a farm fence in 1911 would more than likely be split rail). There are also broken lanterns in the scene - again, more likely connected to the railroad rather than a farmers field. I do not see any signs of the chains that held Walker, but perhaps the crossed beams visible in the photo under the body might be a bed frame. News articles of the day stated that there was little to nothing remaining of Walker's body except some charred bone - although the pyre could have continued well beyond the time the photo was taken. A note of interest are the number of men wearing neck ties - many of the participants in the Walker lynching were said to have come directly from Sunday evening services - that would certainly justify the neck ties. The crowd at Walker's lynching included many women and children who were permitted to go to the front of the crowd. There are no women visible in the photo, although they may well have backed off not wishing to be in the photo. An interesting quandry...